Funny Habits
by TheNobodyofaSOLDIER
Summary: <html><head></head>[Student!Levi x Student!Reader] [AU]</html>


"Alright, [Name]," you thought to yourself. "You just looked at the clock. DON'T LOOK AGAIN FOR ANOTHER TEN MINUTES."  
>Nervously, you wrapped the end of your pen at the edge of your notebook. The drone of the professor's voice was putting you to sleep by the second. Frankly, your brain was too tired from studying to even try taking more notes.<p>

"Don't look at the clock. Don't look at the clock."

The words became a ritual anytime the urge so much as tickled the back of your brain. You had an important meeting afterwards, one you had been looking forward to all damn year;

your first date with Levi Ackerman.

"Don't look at the clock. Don't look at the clock."

You had been waiting for this to happen since Christmas. Although you shared the same classes since junior high, when you first transferred, you never really felt any romantic attachment to him. He was so much of a hardass, thuggish creep, hardly anyone spent time with him, save for the hyperactive Hanji Zoe. But, you'd never regret that first day you decided to break away from your circle of friends and sit next to him that lonely, rainy afternoon. Of course, he replied with a sarcastic comment but you stood firm. A little alarm inside you told you that he needed a friend. You had yet to discover why, but that was exactly what you did: you sat with him everyday. You invited him to study with you in the library. Though his foul mouth and rotten attitude never changed, his occasional, crooked smiles, bringing an extra dessert for you at lunch and going out of his way to find you after classes showed you that he appreciated your friendship. As you both progressed through the years, he became more aesthetically appealing. You began to notice the sharp edges of his face, the mystery behind those steely eyes, even his well structured frame. A spark of electricity shot up your arm anytime he touched your hand. You found yourself much more excited than normal before you met.

Then of course came the dreaded question: who should make the first move? Should you confess? Should you wait for him to see if he liked you back? Should you ask him out?

Thankfully, however, he asked you out first. At least that was one less thing you had to worry about.

Damn crushes...

"Don't look at the clock," you repeated your mantra yet again in your frazzled mind, drawing meaningless circles all over your notebook. "Don't. Look. At-you are currently looking at the clock. You weak, pathetic human..."

You slapped a palm to your forehead. The stuffiness of the classroom only made your nerves worse, and the constant monologuing of your teacher didn't to a damn thing to help that either! All you could do was rapidly bounce your leg on the back of your classmate's desk.

"Urgh, [Name]!" Eren jerked his back at you, eyes flaring.

"Sorry," you mumbled and sunk your head to the desk.

The ringing of the blame was more musical to your ears than your favorite song in that split second. Gathering every book and pencil into your bag, you fled out the door faster than a shark in a frenzy. Your footsteps echoed down the currently empty halls, and you nearly kicked down the entrance.

Levi against the wall under the archway of the school, bangs concealing his eyes as he lowered his head toward his book. As expected, his jacket and pants were perfectly ironed and neat. His backpack rested against his leg. His pale skin glowed under the muted light of the cloud day.

If only you brought your camera with you.

Not that it mattered. As soon as he heard you coming, he calmly closed his book and silently led you to his vehicle. With an indifferent grunt, he opened the door for you, allowing you to slide onto the leather seat. It must have been relatively new, because the leather smelt perfectly clean and fresh. After tossing his bag in the backseat, he took his spot in the driver's seat and started the engine.

Before you could speak, Levi held up a finger.

"I need to run by my place really quick," he informed you. "My dad moved my fucking wallet, and I didn't have time to look for it. Do you mind?"

You shook your head. "Not at all," you hesitated. "I'd like to see where you live."

He rolled his eyes. "Not really much to speak of. It's just in a shitty suburban community. Smallest house on the damn block."

You shrugged your shoulders, watching the buildings pass by in a blur. "I don't care. I'm not one to judge."

He smirked as if to approve your comment. The rest of the drive was smooth and quiet. You found the buzz of the wheels a much preferable white noise as opposed to the monotonous voice of the teacher. Of course, Levi's presence made it all the better.

He finally pulled through a long series of rather expensive looking houses. You never thought of your house as small, but these homes certainly made it feel that way. He continued the drive down, and their sizes decreases. But, they didn't make them look any less expensive; definitely out of your parents' price range. The further you ventured, the less impressive they became until you came upon the dregs of the neighborhood. Levi pulled into the driveway of a two story house, not much square footage, and a giant tree shielding it from any possible sunlight. It didn't look that bad compared to some of the other rundown facilities you noted previous. Nonetheless, as he shut the door to his car, a very prominent scowl graced his features.

A little nervously, you exited the car.

"You should probably wait here," he told you, holding up a hand.

"Well," you shoved a hand in your jean pocket. "I thought I could help you look for your wallet. Two heads are better than one, right?"

"I don't know-"

"Please, Levi? It's not like I'm an intruder of any kind."

With a deep sigh, he glanced at his front door then back at you. Rumpling his hair, he replied, half to himself,

"Make it quick."

As he unlocked the front door, you pressed yourself closer to him than normal. For some reason, you had an uneasy feeling.

When he opened the door to his humble abode, you weren't surprised to find everything completely clean and organized. Of course, you noted the interesting combination of contemporary and vintage decor, but you didn't bother mentioning it to Levi. One thing did tug at your mind; why was he acting so nervous?

Was he hiding something?

As he lead you upstairs, you noticed a tall, lanky man lazily sprawled across one of the sofas with the TV going in the back. A series of brown bottles scattered about his vicinity. While continuing up the stairs, you inquired,

"Was that your dad, Levi?"

He scoffed, almost in an exaggerated fashion. "Who, Kenny? No, he's just an idiot."

Your eyes widened. "Why would you say-"

"Because he's not my dad."

You suddenly felt the urge to bolt. That hit a very sour chord. "I'm sorry."

He stopped in front of a door, obviously his room. His expression was completely unreadable. The seconds were slow and very awkward.

Ah, shit. I blew it, you thought.

But, he merely turned to you and pat your shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

Whew...

"Just look in the guest room and anywhere in this hall," he told you, directing you accordingly.

Almost too eagerly, you cheered,

"You got it!"

With a quiet chuckle, he then disappeared into his room, closing the door behind him. You began your search on the top floor. You checked under the side tables, rugs, the bed in the guest room, closet, bathroom cabinets, anything that could be opened or moved. You felt a little weird going through Levi's stuff, especially since you were waiting for you first date with him, But, if this what needed to be done in order for that to happen, you put all awkwardness aside and dove for it. You heard Levi trump down the stairs with obviously no success. You just stayed put and searched the vicinity again. With a quiet cheer, you grabbed the leather wallet under the first side table in the foyer! How could you have missed that? But, no matter. You wandered to the top of the stairs, ready to announce your victory. You clamped your lips shut when you perceived the harsh voice of Levi, scolding the mysterious man downstairs, who merely huffed or grumbled in reply. Instead, you quietly paced the hallway.

You stepped in front of Levi's room, sketching the outline with your eyes. Then, something hit you: after spending all this time together, you knew little to nothing about his life outside of schools. You memorized his habits and mannerisms. You had seen him read classic novels, some murder mysteries and of course, his text books. In the car, he usually kept on a CD of either rock, maybe some classic rock or even just the classical station if he was too busy focussing on the road. He seemed like an eclectic person, but you wanted to know more! What were his hobbies? What all different books did he like to read or music he liked to listen to? What were his favorite clothes to wear? What movies or TV shows did he like to watch? Did he like video games?

Many of those questions could be answered with just one push of this door.

Of course, there was alway the dreaded possibility of Levi catching you in the act, possibility showing that would make the Beast's rage when he caught Belle in the West Wing look sweet and friendly. But, your curiosity was far stronger than your fear. With a loud gulp, you delicately pushed open the door.

Clean. Perfectly clean, smelling of Windex, bleach and lemon oil. His books were arranged in alphabetical order, right at the edge in perfect lines. His bed was made, the furniture arranged symmetrically.

"Mm, not bad," you said with a nod.

You circled around the room one more time before coming across a small shelf next to his bed. A small terrarium rested at the center. Of course, it was positional right at the center. The inside resembled a cute little forest, the kind you'd see at the pet store.

"Maybe he has a lizard or something?" you said with a chuckle, leaning.

You saw no lizard, no snake, no turtle, no spider. Nothing moving at all. You peered closer: little faces were staring back at you.

You jumped back. "What the hell...?"

After rubbing your eyes, you looked closer. No, they were faces alright, funny, little cartoon faces drawn on...the mini trees? The plants? Their bodies were grey and rigid.

Were they...rocks?

"Rocks with...faces?" you murmured.

"What are you doing in here?!"

"Oh, shit," everything inside you froze and crumbled. You were absolutely sure you blew all your chances with Levi. Why did you have to be so damn nosy? "I found your wallet, and I was just-"

He immediately shoved himself between you and the terrarium. His face lightly tinged pink.

Levi? Blushing? Despite the deep shit you were in, the sight was too adorable for words.

"This is my room! You shouldn't-!"

"But, Levi!" you moved to the side. "What are those? They're so adorable!"

"No! Don't-!"

Before he could protest, you gently pushed him to the side. You reached in and grabbed one of the stones. He had drawn brown hair and an angry face. Underneath, he wrote "Eren." Before you could reach for another, he swiped it from your hand concealing it in his jacket.

"No! I wanna see!" you said with a laugh.

"No! You can't-! [Name]!"

"Let's, what's this one? Awww, a little blonde girl named Annie?"

Again, he swiped and hide it from you.

"Levi, what are those?" you tilted your head.

"No, it's stupid..."

You smiled and touched his shoulders. "Hey, I told you. I don't judge. I want to learn more about you," you chuckled. "Surely, it's not worse than collecting drugs or Playboys or something like that, right?"

He growled in reply. Hesitantly, he drew his hand from the coat pocket and slipped the cold stones in your hand. You cupped them as carefully as you would a priceless item.

"They're," he finally uttered. He swallowed. "my pets."

You blinked a moment. "What?"

He sighed and slapped his face over his eyes. "They're my pets," he mumbled.

You observed them carefully. "Your pet...rocks?"

"I can't have pets," he said, sliding his fingers through his hair. "I'm really allergic to pet dander, so...I made my own."

You tried your best not to just grin like an idiot. You found your heart flutter faster than it ever had around him. "That's really clever!"

He stilled. Then, he slowly raised his eyes to meet yours. "You...don't think it's weird?"

After shaking your head, you placed them back in their little home. "I think that's a good way to make up for it! Just make up your own pets!"

Being completely unable to reply, he lowered himself next to you, admiring his creation. He looked back at you. A little small teased the corner of his mouth.

"Since I never had a lot of friends," he finally admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I always wanted a cat or a dog or even a stupid bird, just something that I could keep in my room," he shook his head. "But, I always had really bad allergic reactions; headaches, congestion, the works. So, I started collecting a few rocks in my garden, and..."

"And, you made a little world!" you finished his sentence.

"Fuck, I must look like such a dork," he scratched his scalp.

Almost without thinking, you latched onto his arm and pulled him close. "Whatever it does, it just makes me like you more."

Levi's cheeks reddened even more. You had never been this close to him before. He honestly didn't know what to do at this point. With a chuckle, you put your arms softly around his shoulders. Tentatively, he slowly raised his arms and wrapped them around your waist.

"After dinner," you said almost in a whisper. "can we come back, and you can show me all your pet rocks?"

He released an airy snicker. "Yeah, I think they like you."

You pulled back a little to look into his face. "Aw, that's good to know!"

He paused a minute, lowering his head. "I like you too..."

Your heart skipped a beat. You felt as though you could float away, as a hefty weight lifted from your shoulders. Not knowing what exactly to say in return, you rested your head against his shoulder.

"I really like you too, Levi," the words rang in your ears.

His hand slid down your arms, resting gently in his. He would do this a million times from this point on.

No, Levi wasn't perfect. He was easy on the eyes, but he talked like a thug, studied like a nerd and held no respect for those in authority. To top it all off, he was an dork with allergic reactions to pets and created a little collection of pet rocks to make up for that.

Despite all his funny habits, he was yours.


End file.
